


Nightly Discoveries

by helloshatteredlove



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Original Character(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-24 21:11:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helloshatteredlove/pseuds/helloshatteredlove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve saves a poor woman while wandering Manhattan, and brings her back to the Tower because she has nowhere else to go. But, as it turns out, she already knows some of the Avengers. How does Allyson fit with the strange and wacky Avengers lifestyle? CAN she fit in?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Steve Rogers wandered through the streets of Manhattan, the city unnaturally bright even at almost eleven pm. Steve surveyed his surroundings, unsure when he had ventured into an alleyway.

He was thankful for his unconscious decision when he heard a loud, feminine scream. He raced down the alley, following the sounds of another scream. Quickly, thanks to his enhanced hearing and speed, Steve found the woman the voice belonged to.

Unable to truly do anything, Steve watched on, amused as a small woman wailed onto a cowering male with her purse. It wasn't until the man grabbed her wrist on the next downward swing, and drew his hand back into a fist that Steve interrupted the pair. He didn't care how old the notion seemed, a man should never hit a dame.

"Excuse me," Steve began a he walked forward, causing the man to pause. "But I would appreciate it if you would let the woman go."

The man sneered, but did not release the girl's wrist. "What's it to ya?" He snarled.

Steve glanced at the woman, fear apparent on her face, before drawing to his full height, a perfectly intimidating 6 ft. "A man should never hit a woman, no matter what she does. Release the dame, walk away, and I might not hurt you." Steve demanded, going so far as to use what Tony calls the 'Captain America' voice.

The man let out a laugh, a sharp, harsh sound, but let go of the girl's wrist. "'Dame'? Fuck dude, you stuck in the 20's or somethin'? Go ahead, keep the bitch. I was about done with her anyways." The man snarled once more before practically throwing the girl at Steve, who instinctively caught her before she could fall.

"Fucking slut," the man grunted before storming away.

Steve looked down at the woman still in his arms, shocked when she stuck her tongue out at the back of the retreating male. He laughed, drawing the woman's attention to him. Realizing the slightly compromising situation, Steve opened his arms, releasing the woman.

"Uh, I'm Steve Rogers. Who are you?" Steve stammered, the flush on his face having nothing to do with the January chill.

He wasn't expecting the large smile sent his way, especially after what just happened. And judging by the faded, yellow bruises on her arms, it wasn't a one-time occurrence.

"Allyson Baker. You've just met Jason Richen, ex-boyfriend who doesn't understand no. Or, apparently, a purse to the head." She turned her attention to her wrist, which was already beginning to darken.

Steve inhaled sharply, anger rising. Allyson glanced up, and immediately began to placate him.

"Look, he doesn't do it often, and since it's already over, there's no need to go after him, OK? I doubt he'll try that again, especially if he thinks you're with me. Behind that tough-guy bravado, Jason really just a wimp. I bet he even peed his pants."

Even though the situation was anything but amusing, Steve couldn't help but release a laugh at Allyson's last statement. That brought the smile back to her face, something Steve hadn't noticed he missed in its absence.

"So where do you live?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I live in an apartment Jason will no doubt return to after he finishes getting plastered. I'd rather not return there myself, but I have no other place to go." Allyson answered, picking at invisible fluff rather than making eye contact with Steve.

Steve froze, processing the new information. Making a quick decision, Steve pulled out the infernal thing Stark called a phone, and then called the genius.

"Cap? You figured out the 'telly-phone'? To what do I owe this great honor?"

"Stark, you think you could spare a room for a few nights?" Steve asked, not in the mood to play mind games with the genius.

"Course Cap. Hell, I can spare an entire floor. But what for?"

"I'll explain later. See you at the tower." Steve sad, quickly hanging up on the other male.

He turned, noticing Allyson had walked ahead a few feet before stopping and turning back. He walked forward, his long strides easily catching up with the small dame. He smiled at Allyson, who smiled, albeit a little confused, in return.

"A…acquaintance of mine, with whom I have been staying, has offered you a room as well, until you are able to get rid of Jason." Steve explained, and her smile widened in response, confusion disappearing.

"Really? That's great, but I don't want to be a hassle. Are you sure it's OK?" Allyson asked.

Steve nodded, and Allyson grinned and hugged him in gratitude. Steve froze, but quickly wrapped his own arms around her in return. They separated and began to walk to the Tower.

Allyson only badgered Steve a few times as to their destination, stopping when he informed her there were five other people living there, including Steve.

Steve took the silent walk as a chance to study the pretty dame. Her hair was long, and a rich, chocolate brown, and it fell in near perfect curls. Her eyes were bright, a molten silvery color. And she was tiny! Steve stood at a whopping 6ft, and she barely reached his collarbone. He was almost a foot taller than her. Her legs were definitely the longest part of her body.

And her attitude…for a woman who almost beat up a guy with a purse, who in turn almost beat her up, and is following a guy whom she does not know, she seemed oddly…chipper? Hyper? Well, no doubt adaptable, if nothing else.

"Why are you agreeing to follow me, a guy you've never met?" Steve voiced his thoughts, genuinely curious.

Allyson turned to him, her eyes now defiant and sure, though Steve could detect a slim bit of wariness. "You have expressed no ill will towards me, and if you wanted me dead, you could have killed me already, or even left me with Jason. You are nothing but a gentle man, if not intimidating when the situation needs it. You are a gentleman, something this world sorely needs more of. You will not take advantage of me. Your morals will not allow it." She stated, shocking Steve with her explanation, and how close it was to the truth. He nodded in return, and all was silent, until they reached the Tower.

"Oh my goodness! You live in the Avengers Tower? No way!" Allyson squealed, eyes alit. She then stopped, thoughtful. "Wait, if you live here…then you're…"She trailed off, staring at Steve, obviously trying to figure out just who he was.

"OH! You're-!" She gasped, but before the words, 'Captain America' could slip out, Steve clamped a gentle hand over her mouth.

"If you say it, we'll be swarmed with fans, even at this time out night, and we'll never get inside." Steve hissed, and Allyson nodded, wide-eyed and excited. Steve removed his hand and they approached the door to the tower. He allowed the scanner to run over his eye-still unsettling- and turned to the hyper Allyson. Steve laughed; she looked like an over-eager puppy.

"Excited?" He teased as they stepped inside, brow arched.

Allyson stared at Steve, incredulous. "Of course I'm excited! I just got saved by Captain America! Why on earth would I not be?!" She asked, hands waving about.

Oh yeah, another thing Steve noticed. Allyson didn't cuss. At all. That shocked Steve more than anything else he'd seen, because every 21st century dame he'd encountered had a mouth like a sailor.

"-bet I can't tell anyone though. They wouldn't believe me." Allyson continued, oblivious to Steve tuning her out at the moment.

"Wait, what?" Steve asked, confused.

Allyson huffed, glaring at Steve. "You weren't listening, were you?"

Steve smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he shook it in response.

Allyson sighed, hands on her hips. "Never mind then. Ooh! Do I get to meet the rest of the team?" Allyson asked, excited once more.

Steve chuckled; Allyson's exuberance was infectious. He nodded.

"You'll meet Tony first, seeing as he wants an explanation." Steve stated. "The others, I'm not sure. Everyone else has strange sleep schedules. In all honesty, if Clint and Natasha are awake, then they're listening in right now. Clint's probably in the vents." Steve mused.

A loud thump overhead only proved Steve's assumption.

"How'd you know?" Clint whined, voice floating down to the duo.

"Because there's a new and unknown person in the Tower, and you wanted to observe her yourself. Instead of hovering over us like a stalker, why don't you come down and join us?" Steve asked, staring into the vents, amused.

To his credit, it didn't take Clint too long to jump down, startling Allyson by landing not two feet in front of her. But when Steve glanced over, to make sure she didn't accidentally punch the marksman, he didn't expect the gleam of recognition.

"Derek?" Allyson whispered in shock.

Clint looked at Allyson, and said two words.

"Oh shit."


	2. Chapter 2

Allyson squealed, but made no attempt to approach the archer.

"It is you!" She exclaimed.

Steve was confused. Did Allyson know Clint? Or, well, Derek?

Natasha rounded the corner, and promptly froze.

"Naomi? You too?" Allyson now sounded as confused as Steve felt. Natasha, to her credit, did nothing but utter a quiet, "Fuck."

Allyson then turned to Steve, "How do you know Derek and Naomi?"

Steve shrugged. "I don't. I know Clint and Natasha."

Clint sighed, but Natasha spoke, her tight voice the only indication of her shock. "Allyson, why are you here?"

Allyson shook her head, refusing to answer. "No. You explain what's going on, no lies, then I will. Are you guys Avengers? Do you live here?"

"Yes and yes, Allyson. Here, follow us. We'll explain everything to you." Clint suggested.

"Look, I have to go and talk to Stark. See you later, Allyson." Steve spoke up, before walking away.

Steve approached the elevator, quickly making his way to Tony's lab. Steve heard the loud, cat-screech music long before actually seeing the lab. (If Tony heard that, he'd probably kill Steve.) Ignoring his instincts for once, Steve simply typed in the passcode rather than knocking, then entered the lab.

Tony's head jerked up from where he was working on the Iron Man suit, eyes wide. He ordered JARVIS to turn down the music before speaking to Steve.

"Cap! You'd better explain to me who the hell you brought into my tower and- wait, where is she?" Tony questioned, looking around as if Allyson was hiding behind Steve.

Though she is small enough, Steve thought.

"Allyson is with Clint and Natasha right now. I'm guessing the trio met once while Clint and Natasha were on mission, because she kept calling them different names." Steve replied.

"I'm going to ignore my thoughts about you leaving her with the two deadliest people in this building, and ask exactly what influenced you, virgin of all virgins, to bring home a girl." Tony said, eyebrow arched.

"She was about to be beaten by a man. Her ex, she said. I saved her. She told me she had no place to go, because her ex was most likely going to be at her apartment, drunk. So I called you. No funny business. At all." Steve stressed.

Tony snorted. "Of course you were the gentleman. So should I plan for an overnight stay, a week-long, a month-long, or undetermined?" Tony asked, all traces of sarcasm and jokes gone.

"Allyson said she'd only need a place to stay until she's sure Jason is gone. I suggest at least a week. But let's just get her set up for tonight. Oh yeah, she was shocked when she found out I was Captain America. So don't let it get to your head when she sees you." Steve said.

Tony grinned. "Never, Cap. Hey, you want her to meet Bruce, too?"

"Only if he's awake. Don't bother him if he's sleeping."

"JARVIS?"

"Dr. Banner is currently awake, but wishes to be left alone."

Tony shrugged. "Very well."

That shocked Steve. Why was Tony not being his normal, egotistical, annoying self? Steve didn't voice his thoughts in fear of Tony returning to said sarcastic self.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Allyson, what are you doing here?" Clint demanded, Natasha staring at Allyson.

"Nu-uh. You said you'd explain first. Then I would." Allyson crossed her arms in defiance.

"Actually, you did, but nonetheless," Clint grumbled, before continuing.

"The people you know, Naomi Ruston and Derek Swatson, aren't real. They were aliases created by Natasha Romanoff," he gestured to Natasha, "and I, Clint Barton." He gestured to himself. "We are agents who work for S.H.E.I.L.D., a government branch. We were on mission when we met you. You were not part of the mission in any way, you just happened to be one of the people involved with our target. Now we are part of the Avengers," Clint explained, watching Allyson intently for any sign of a temperament.

"Your turn. Why are you here?" Natasha demanded. Clint was shocked at the amount of anger in the red-head's voice, and began to look Allyson over for any injuries.

Allyson wrapped her arms around herself before speaking, and it was then that Clint noticed. She had bruises running down her arms. Clint felt his own fury spike as Allyson spoke.

"I was trying to get to my apartment when Jason stopped me in the alleyway..." Allyson continued to speak, but Clint was too busy listening to the pounding of his blood in his ears to pay attention to Allyson. She had been dating the dickhead when Clint and Natasha had met her while on mission. Jealous, rude, and abusive, Clint hated the asshole with the first look. Knowing Allyson probably wouldn't appreciate Clint bashing Jason's face in, Clint was willing to let his anger go. For now.

"Then Steve shooed Jason off. Didn't even have to hit him! And then Steve offered to let me stay here. He told me that Tony said it was okay. Is Mr. Stark usually this nice?" Allyson asked, head cocked.

Clint scoffed, but at Nat's glare, covered it up with a cough.

"I heard that, bird-brain! You shouldn't be giving our guests the wrong impressions, should you?" Tony yelled, announcing his presence.

"Oh shut up, metal-head. The only one giving the wrong impressions here is you." Clint shot back.

"Boys! Shut up!" Natasha snapped, cutting off any retort Tony had in his arsenal.

"Yes mother," Tony and Clint grumbled simultaneously, before shooting glares at each other.

Clint looked around, and noticed Allyson standing next to Steve the duo chatting about who knows what. Clint wasn't jealous; not at all. He wasn't jealous of the fact that Allyson, a girl whom he hasn't seen in five months, is talking to Steve, a guy she met only today.

Natasha's hand on Clint's shoulder drew him out of his thoughts. Clint nodded, knowing that she wanted to speak to him later. Clint looked up, catching Tony strutting over to Allyson. This time, Clint allowed himself to snort. Tony's charms wouldn't work on Allyson.

"Why hello there! Are you the lovely lady Steve charmed into staying here?" Tony asked.

Allyson smiled. "I am. And you're Tony Stark, correct? I've heard many stories about you."

Tony's eyebrow rose. "Oh? Well, I can guarantee all of them are true."

Clint chuckled; Stark didn't know what he was getting himself into. Allyson may be a sweet, practically harmless girl, but she wasn't without her wicked side.

"Oh? So you did have that threesome with that blonde girl and the transvestite last year?" Allyson questioned, feigning innocence.

Tony looked so shocked, so beside himself, Clint couldn't help it. He began to laugh. Steve's face certainly didn't help matters either. Even Nat graced a smile.

Allyson grinned; making the marksman laugh was quite difficult. She had seen the jealousy in Der-Clint's eyes when she had been talking to Steve. She hadn't seen Clint in five months, and when she finally does, Allyson discovers that it was all a lie. Allyson wasn't one to hold grudges, and she certainly wasn't going to hate Clint and Natasha for doing their job. But because it was a lie, Allyson would have to re-discover the two of them. It had been difficult enough the first time around.

Pushing Clint and Natasha out of her thoughts, Allyson turned her attention to the flabbergasted man before her, one Mr. Stark.

"Mr. Stark? Are you still alive?" Allyson questioned, puzzled as to why the rich genius hadn't replied.

"Oh it takes a hell of a lot more than that to kill Stark." Clint noted.

Tony snapped out of his strange mood with a large grin. "Steve! We're so keeping her!" He announced.

Steve didn't answer, so Allyson turned to look at him. The man's face was beet red, the blush spreading down below his shirt. His blue eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth was hung open with surprise.

"Steve? Hey, Steve, you okay?" Allyson asked worriedly.

Steve nodded, and finally managed to compose himself. He closed his mouth, calmed the blush, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he looked at Allyson and smiled.

"Yes, Allyson, I'm fine," he said when she went to question him again.

She shrugged, and turned to Tony. She rocked back and forth on her heels before speaking. "Sooo...I can stay the night?" She asked, tentatively.

Tony shot her an incredulous look. "Of course you can! Hell, you can stay as long as you need!" He exclaimed, before wrapping an arm around Allyson's shoulder, steering her towards the nearest elevator.

Allyson snuck a look at Steve and Clint, but didn't pull away from Tony.

The two men and Natasha followed Allyson and Tony to the elevator. As they waited, Tony began to explain to Allyson the living arrangements, the routine when they weren't called out, and other meaningless information. She seemed to absorb it quickly, and it was decided she would stay on the 60th floor with Steve, so that she could have help if she needed it.

Tony told her they'd take a tour tomorrow whenever she wanted. "Just get Cap to come get me if you can't find me." He said.

Allyson smiled with gratitude as she and Steve stepped off the elevator.

"Thank you again," She said with a smile.

Tony waved her thanks off as the elevator doors closed.

"Okay, so I'm in the 3rd room on the left. Any preferences?" Steve asked, looking down at Allyson.

She shrugged in response. "I guess...the room across from yours so I can easily get ahold of you."

Steve nodded. He then directed her to the room directly across from his.

"Here you are. I can bring you a T-shirt and a pair of sweats to change into, if you need," Steve offered.

Allyson smiled. "That would be lovely, thank you."

Steve smiled in response and then left Allyson to discover her own room.

It was a relatively simple room, mostly empty with two doors and a bed with plain covers.

Allyson turned at the knock on her door. It was Steve, holding out the clothes with a smile.

"Thank you. goodnight, Steve," Allyson smiled as he handed her the clothes.

"You're welcome. Goodnight to you as well." Steve replied before returning to his own room.

Shutting the door, Allyson changed quickly and fell asleep even quicker.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own, nor affiliate, with anything Marvel. I simply steal and twist their ideas.  
> PS, do YOU think you know how Allyson and Clint know each other? PM me or leave a review with your idea! Next chapter we'll decide if you're correct!


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